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YOUR RECESS CHEAT SHEET -- Today might mark the start of the slow season in Washington, D.C., but it’s back-to-school season everywhere else. So don’t expect education news to taper off in August. As Common Core fights continue in the states and thousands of colleges and schools open for the fall, here’s what we’re watching through the August break and into September.

--Will Florida crumble on the Common Core tests? The Sunshine State was already teetering on the brink of dropping out of its testing consortium. That would be a big move, since it’s the financial linchpin. With state chief Tony Bennett’s resignation Thursday, we’re expecting things to get even more interesting in Florida before the question is resolved.

--Will the Senate’s No Child Left Behind overhaul make it to the floor? It’s far from clear that Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) could muster enough votes to overcome a filibuster on his version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. But he’s said he’d like to see it on the floor this fall.

--Will President Obama give any more details on his promise to “shake up” higher education? The president is continuing a series of speeches on the economy that started last week at Knox College, and he has hinted at more details on a plan to keep tuition prices low. Follow-up speeches to the Knox address have recycled previous policy proposals. If that’s true here, expect another push on using work-study, supplemental grants and Perkins loans as a carrot (or stick) on college prices.

--The slow, slow wheels of reauthorization are starting to turn again ... this time for the Higher Education Act. Comments from the higher ed community are due today, and the House and Senate begin holding hearings once Congress is back in session in September.

GOOD MORNING! IT’S RECESS! And if that’s not enough good news for you today, happy Friday! Welcome to Morning Education, where, unlike Congress, we’re not heading out of D.C. for the month. But if we were, we’d definitely hire a “food sherpa” for our travels (http://nyti.ms/14mCink). Send culinary secrets, education news tips, gossip and anything else you’d like to share to lnelson@politico.com and @libbyanelson. And follow us at @Morning_Edu and @POLITICOPro.

REGULATORY RAMP-UP -- What’s different this time around as the Education Department gears up to rewrite its most controversial rule, written in 2011 to rein in for-profit colleges? More lawyers, fewer higher ed associations, a seat at the table for business and industry, and a role for some prominent critics. It’s a more streamlined approach, since negotiators are working on only one regulation, not a package of 14. The overall goal: A lawsuit-proof rule. Education Pro’s Libby A. Nelson has the story: http://politi.co/14mBzCq

GRADE-GATE: THE FALLOUT -- Talking about Tony Bennett has shifted away from what he did or didn’t do to adjust grading for one Indiana charter school. The big questions now are about what his rapid fall from from grace means for the accountability movement. And how will Florida find yet another new state chief? Education Pro’s Nirvi Shah has an overview of the questions involved: http://politi.co/14mG5kv

Some harsh judgment on the Bennett situation’s repercussions from a group of experts, mostly pro-accountability systems, from the Fordham Foundation: http://bit.ly/14mGp2w

NAPOLITANO GETS SIX-FIGURE MOVING ALLOWANCE -- The departing secretary of Homeland Security will get $142,500 from the Board of Regents to move to California, where she’ll head the University of California system. She’ll also get almost $9,000 annually for a car allowance.

Those nuggets are buried in a Center for Investigative Reporting story on business travel at UCLA. Its irresistible lede: “Thirteen years ago, the University of California changed its ban on flying business or first class on the university’s dime, adding a special exception for employees with a medical need. What followed at UCLA was an acute outbreak of medical need.” The full story: http://bit.ly/1efb6Wh

CONGRESS TACKLES THE NCAA -- Representatives from Ohio and Pennsylvania introduced a bill that would force the National Collegiate Athletic Association to follow due process when investigating violations and create new rules to better protect student athletes. It also calls for guaranteed four-year scholarships. The Washington Post: “Although the legislation includes protections for student athletes, it also channels the ire of sports fans who have angrily disagreed with recent NCAA sanctions. ... In introducing this bill, the lawmakers frequently pointed out that college athletics has grown into a powerful business-like enterprise that needs to be held accountable.” http://wapo.st/14mHqaX

When all you have is a hammer ... Concussions, athletics scholarships and due process for investigating scandals have almost nothing to do with federal loans and grants. This bill is one of the clearest illustrations of how Congress has only one real tool to force higher ed to bend to its will: federal financial aid programs. Congress has no authority over the NCAA, but it can threaten to yank federal financial aid eligibility from colleges who participate in the NCAA if they stick around even if the athletics group doesn't make changes. Roundabout, to say the least. (That’s if the bill were to become law -- and “underdog” isn't really a strong enough term here.)

YOUR FRIDAY MORAL DILEMMA -- A teacher is passed over for a middle school principal’s job, and says it’s because he’s openly gay. How should the superintendent deal with the situation? Four experts weigh in on the hypothetical situation: http://bit.ly/14mFpvh

NOT SO ‘MINNESOTA NICE’ ON TFA -- The State Board of Teaching meets today to vote on license waivers for Teach for America participants and a partnership between TFA and Hamline University. The Pioneer Press puts it in perspective: “A group of Minneapolis teachers has joined in by urging colleagues to boycott the [University of Minnesota]'s teacher prep program if it signs on with Teach for America. ... At the urging of the state teacher's union, Gov. Mark Dayton this year vetoed money the Legislature earmarked to expand the program. This summer, the state's Board of Teaching denied a group license waiver for this fall's crop of Teach for America recruits.” Full story: http://bit.ly/17nwuEX

UPDATE ON PRIVATE STUDENT LOANS -- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is hearing many of the same complaints it’s always heard, but also new complaints about loan servicing. Median age: 33, the bureau says. The full report: http://1.usa.gov/14mJ9go

MOST KINDERGARTNERS HAVE VACCINES-- A new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention update finds high levels of compliance. The best-vaccinated state? Mississippi, which only offers medical (not religious or philosophical) exemptions from vaccinations. The worst was Colorado. Full report: http://1.usa.gov/14mJwYk

MORNING ED'S SYLLABUS

New leaders for the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees NAEP, the “nation’s report card”: http://1.usa.gov/14mKyUl

Charter schools in competition with each other in eastern Brooklyn, as the number of seats grows quickly. GothamSchools: http://bit.ly/14mKJ1X

Students entering Texas high schools this fall will take only five tests to graduate, not 15, as in the past. Texas Tribune: http://bit.ly/14mKV11

EXTRA CREDIT

Buzzfeed goes meta with “Top 9 Signs You Went To The College That You Went To.” (No. 3: “When you visit on a reunion, you can also remember having been there for four years in your late teens and early twenties.”) http://bit.ly/1efcyYy